African airlines are expected to make a loss both this year and the next, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) announced in Geneva on Thursday. This will make Africa one of only two Iata regions that will make losses this year, the other being Latin America. And Latin America is expected to move back into profit, albeit just so, next year.

African carriers are now forecast to make losses of $300-million this year. The losses for Latin America are also expected to be $300-million.

"[Africa's] losses per passenger make its performance in 2015 worse than Latin America's," stated Iata in its press release. Moreover, African carriers are forecast to make an aggregate loss of $100-million in 2016, whereas Latin American airlines should make a net profit of $400-million.

African carriers' net margin this year is expected to be –2.1% and profit per passenger, –$3.84. Next year, their net margin is forecast to be –0.5% and profit per passenger –$0.93. For Latin America, the 2015 net margin should be –0.9% and profit per passenger –$1.05; for 2016 the figures are expected to be 1.1% and $1.26 respectively.

"Political instability is impacting important tourism markets in North Africa," stated Iata. "The continent's carriers in general suffer from weak economies and stiff competition on international markets. Growth is also weak, with a 0.4% capacity expansion expected for 2015 increasing to 1.6% in 2016."

"The performance of carriers in Latin America is weak on the back of the deepening economic crisis in Brazil, weak commodity prices and adverse currency fluctuations," highlighted Iata. However,"[r]ecent elections in Venezuela and Argentina are expected to result in a more business-friendly environment for airlines. These are both key markets where government controls have blocked the repatriation of airline profits (some $3.78-billion in Venezuela). The region is still expected to see a robust capacity growth of 5.6% in 2015, accelerating to 7.5% in 2016 on the strength of demand on links with North America."